☕️ Hero complex

Good morning.

Employment Hero’s $100 million acquisition of Canada’s Humi is off to a rocky start, with the Australian HR software giant swiftly axing perks and tightening management controls.

As Capital Brief’s Bronwen Clune reports, staff at the Toronto-based firm, used to a cushier setup, are particularly incensed by the axing of their 4.5-day work week, delivered via a curt Slack message.

The shake-up hasn’t stopped at benefits. The decision to host a company event in Dubai—where same-sex relationships are criminalised—has only heightened tensions, clashing with Humi’s previously strong inclusivity stance. Meanwhile, CEO Ben Thompson’s Elon Musk fixation is surfacing in company materials, adding to the unease.

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Market movers

Zip’s second-quarter earnings jumped 50% to $35.3 million on record transaction volumes, but its shares took a massive dive Thursday as results fell short of analyst expectations.

The quick sync

• Once dismissed as a joke, Crypto Tax Calculator rode regulatory crackdowns and market chaos to become a global force in crypto tax compliance. (Capital Brief)

• The ABC, Nine, Seven and Sky News are in early talks with Labor and the Coalition to host the 2025 election debates, with competition fierce and no guarantees on how many will go ahead. (Capital Brief)

• As concerns over Chinese tech firms grow, Moomoo insists Australian customer data will be safe—moved to Singapore, with strict controls on any access from China. (Capital Brief)

• SoftBank is in talks to invest up to US$25b in OpenAI, a move that would take its valuation to $340b. (FT)(WSJ)

• NAB is opening 29 branches on Saturdays and considering Sunday operations, potentially breaking decades of banking tradition to boost customer satisfaction, despite ongoing branch closures. (AFR)

Trading floor

M&A

• Igneo sells part of Brisbane Airport stake to Royal Schiphol Group. (AFR)

• SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25B in OpenAI. (Bloomberg)

• Zenith Energy’s $2B auction ramps up, while APA Group shifts focus to organic growth. (AFR)

• Sojitz acquires majority stake in HVAC firm Climatech. (Sojitz)

• Kinetic shifts to breakup sale after failed full sale bids. (AFR)

• Ex-Perpetual exec Garry Laurence calls for end to demerger and business overhaul. (AFR)

• Interactive bids $26.9M for AUCyber after Brennan exits. (CYB:ASX Announcement)

• St John of God Health Care in talks to take over Healthscope leases amid financial troubles. (The Australian)

• Veris boosts government business with $3M acquisition of Spatial Vision. (ASX Media Release)

• Assetnote founders sell cybersecurity start-up for over $100M. (AFR)

• Kestrel mine owners face difficulty selling for $4.8B due to falling coal prices and production issues. (The Australian)

• The US DOJ is suing to block Hewlett Packard’s US$14b acquisition of Juniper Networks, arguing it would stifle competition and give HPE and Cisco control of over 70% of the US networking market. (Reuters)

• McKinsey is exploring a sale of its US$23b in-house asset manager, MIO Partners, after years of controversy over conflicts of interest and an SEC fine. (FT)

• Kering cashes in €350m selling Italy’s The Mall Luxury Outlets to US giant Simon. (Reuters)

Capital Markets

• Blackstone defends US$80b data centre bet as DeepSeek challenges AI infrastructure demand. (FT)

• Diag-Nose.io raised $3.15M for its AI-driven nasal biopsy tech. (Capital Brief)

• Karoon Energy’s Q4 output drops; unveils $120M buyback. (Capital Brief)

• MinRes' debt blows out to $5.1b amid an ASIC probe and plunging lithium prices, with shares tanking over 40% in a year. (AFR)(Capital Brief)

• Australian retailers hit record highs on rate cut hopes. (Reuters)

• ECB cuts rates again, signals more cuts amid Eurozone stagnation. (Capital Brief)

• Musk-Trump ties boost X debt appeal, turning burden into an asset. (Bloomberg)

• IGO posts $79M loss due to lithium glut and price slump. (AFR)

• Qsic raises $40Mto expand AI audio ad platform used by McDonald's, Coles, and 7-Eleven. (Smart Company)

• Fortress is targeting US$1b for new legal assets fund—twice the size of its last—as litigation finance explodes into a multi-billion-dollar industry. (Bloomberg)

• Hedge fund giant Elliott warns the Trump administration’s crypto push is fuelling a speculative bubble that could wreak havoc when it bursts. (FT)

VC

• Icehouse Ventures raises NZ$122M for second growth fund to support Kiwi tech scaleups. (Startup Daily)

People moves

• Seven's Fair Work dispute ends; suppression orders extended. (Capital Brief)

• Lovisa to defend class action over alleged staff underpayment. (Capital Brief)

• Layton Bonnici leaves RBC for Barrenjoey after 15 years. (AFR)

• Magellan’s Gerald Stack exits, while Nikki Thomas drops two global funds to focus on high-conviction strategy. (Capital Brief)

• Riverine Grazier leads new Google ad tech class action. (Capital Brief)

• Stephen Jones' exit deepens Labor’s instability and throws the already murky big tech levy into further uncertainty, just as Donald Trump looms over its fate. (Capital Brief)

• Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing backs DEI as "integral" to the bank's strategy, joining JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon in resisting Donald Trump’s ramped up attacks. (Bloomberg)

• Wells Fargo’s Jon Weiss is stepping down, leaving Fernando Rivas as sole head of the corporate and investment bank, a division central to the bank’s Wall Street expansion. (Bloomberg)

• The famed traders behind The Big Short reunited in Miami, but instead of betting against the market, they’re going long on overlooked assets as short selling fades. (Bloomberg)

• David Droga’s bold $45m Tamarama mansion gets the green light after a court slams council opposition as backward-looking. (AFR)

The watercooler